Three infants die in a day in Nabarangpur hospital

The death of three infants at the district headquarters hospital in Nabarangpur in a day has raised doubts over the availability of quality healthcare at government-run hospitals in Odisha.

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A male child, son of Dulamu Muduli of Goudadeopalli village under Tentulikhunti block was admitted to the district headquarters hospital on April 7. The infant died while undergoing treatment on Wednesday.

Similarly, an infant- a girl child born to Tamali Majhi of Icchapur village died at the hospital on Wednesday while undergoing treatment. Also, a newborn male child born to Champada Harijan of Anjala village died on the same day while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

All the infants were admitted to the Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) of the hospital.

However, the attending doctor at the hospital said the infants were admitted to the hospital in critical condition and ruled out any medical negligence or lack of facilities at the SNCU.

“Three infants have died in the SNCU of our hospital. Out of them, two were cases of birth asphyxia, these babies had never cried after their births. They were admitted to the hospital in a very critical condition. The other baby, who has died, was a low birth-weight baby. The baby died of aspiration a day after it was fed by its mother. This baby had stayed in the ward for about a week. There was an improvement in its condition after undergoing treatment but it died,” said Dr Dharanidhar Satpathy, attending physician at the SNCU.

Despite huge spends by the government on Mamata and Janani Surakshya schemes in the district but the reality is these have failed to curb infant mortality rate in the district which currently stands at 66.60 per 1000 as per government records.